"It's been three years since Francis became pope, with his super-tough discourse on child sex abuse, but we have yet to see real action," said Peruvian journalist Pao Ugaz, who co-authored a book on the abuses in Sodalicio that propelled the scandal onto the front pages in Peru.
While in Beijing, he also delivered a tongue-in-cheek but tough-to-translate discourse on the relative merits of the London Games, in which he reminded his audience, Chinese and otherwise, that "Ping Pong was invented on the dining tables of Britain" in the 19th century.
His greatest achievement has been maintaining the capacity to seek compromise, outside the glare of polarized public discourse, on tough issues like moving forward with new fuel economy standards for vehicles.
Civil discourse = bad ratings.
For the movement, it seemed an unusual opportunity to experiment with modes of discourse that might work with very tough audiences and bridge the divide between our perceptions and theirs.
Australia's tough national security posturing in the past 14 years has cultivated a discourse and climate of fear and overreaction.
"I think in prime minister's questions and in political discourse we can sometimes get very rough and tough in the House of Commons.
"We faced tough questions about our role in democracy, our role in discourse, our role in journalism, and our role in well-being..
It is precisely this type of space that we're so sorely lacking in today's public discourse and which is essential to engaging in the tough conversations and real listening that will move us forward.
We set out to plant the idea in the daily discourse of our classmates, but, not being trendsetters, we found it tough sledding.
But they believe his nationalist rhetoric, together with an unapologetically tough stance on immigration and non-interventionist foreign policy, creates a space in the national discourse for their ideas.
